I did a quick search on the forum, but I have not been able to find an answer...

Could anyone recommend a decent book on meditation? Ideally, that would include the different types of meditation, and possibly how to cultivate mindfulness outside the context of meditation (i.e. in your everyday life).

The heart of the path is SO simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are. That is all I do in my own practice. Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. Of course, there are dozens of meditation techniques to develop samadhi and many kinds of vipassana. But it all comes back to this - just let it all be. Step over here where it is cool, out of the battle. - Ajahn Chah

santa100 wrote:Bhante Gunaratana's "Mindfulness in Plain English" is a great one..

I got this book online because of its recommendation here. And put it on my Nook (like a Kindle). I have been reading it and I can say that I would also recommend it. Thank you very much for suggesting it, all.

Beyond Mindfulness In Plain English: An Introductory Guide To Deeper States Of Meditation - Bhante Gunaratana.

Also a book that has helped me at times is................ 'How to practice Shamatha Meditation - The cultivation of meditative quiescence.' By Gen Lamrimpa. it must be a good book on meditation because it is filled with a lot things in it which make my hair stand up e.g. tantra, bodhisattva, hinayana, yet I still feel it has a lot of great suggestions.

For an alternative to "Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond" I suggests "The Experience of Samadhi: An In-depth Exploration of Buddhist Meditation" byRichard Shankman. Some opinions about "Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond" where declared here viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10974, at the middle/end of the thread, by the way.

The good part about the book by Ajahn Brahm is the easy language, the many stories he use to illustrate his points and the humor.

puppha wrote:Could anyone recommend a decent book on meditation? Ideally, that would include the different types of meditation, and possibly how to cultivate mindfulness outside the context of meditation (i.e. in your everyday life).

These books include exactly what you are looking for: buddhist meditation on and off the cushion, loving kindness, breath, vipassana & samatha.Some of that stuff is in print also.